Wire fabricating machine



June 27, 1967 W. .i. HARPER WIRE FABRICATING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 27, 1964 INVENTOR HARPER WILLIAM June 27, 1967 w. J. HARPER WIRE FABRICATING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 27, 1964 INVENTQR. WILLIAM J. HAREER- June 27, 1967 w. J. HARPER 3,327,739

WIRE FABRICATING MACHINE Filed July 27, 1964 5 Sheets-$heet 5 INVENTOR. WILLIAM J. HARPER 1 June 27, 1967 w. 1. HARPER WIRE FABRICATING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 27, 1964 INVENTOR.

WiLLiAM J. HARPER June 27, 1967 w, J PER 3,327,739

WIRE FABRICATING MACHINE Filed July 27, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM J. HARPER 3,327,739 WIRE FAERICATING MACHINE William .I. Harper, Phoenix, Ariz., assignor to McGraw- Edison Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 27, 1964, Ser. No. 385,196 11 Claims. (Cl. 149-112) This invention relates to a wire fabricating machine, and, more particularly to a wire fabricating machine particularly adapted to produce evaporative cooler pad rack assemblies.

Evaporative cooler pad rack assemblies are generally used in connection with pad holding frames of evaporative coolers to support a hydroscopic evaporative cooler pad in position whereby air may flow through the wet and thus be evaporatively cooled.

In the operation of evaporative coolers the evaporative pads are supplied with water and tend to become heavy and sag, and the pads of the evaporative coolers are thus supported by pad racks generally composed of wire and having prongs extending from the wire structures of the rack into the pad for holding it in juxtaposition relative to the frame.

Various machines of the prior art have been employed to construct pad rack assemblies for evaporative coolers and for supporting pads therein. Such machines have generally been employed to weld one cross wire at a time to a pair of parallel wires, and ordinarily these machines have been designed to fold the prongs of pad rack assemblies adjacent a pair of parallel wires so that all of the prongs are aligned in a row. A common fault of prior art machines is that the machine for each cycle of operation only welds one prong wire or cross wire to a pair of parallel wires, and, consequently, the production rate of such prior art machines is unduly limited. Additionally, it has been a prior art problem to produce a wire fabricating machine which will at a high production rate produce evaporative cooler pad rack assemblies employing a pair of parallel wires and cross wires generally formed into U-shaped structures having prongs which are staggered with respect to the pair of longitudinal wires in order to provide for uniform support of evaporative cooler pads by the staggered prongs.

The design of evaporative cooler pad racks having a pair of parallel wires and staggered U-shaped prong cross wires has posed problems in the high production of such pad rack assemblies.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine particularly adapted to produce pad rack assemblies having a pair of parallel wires and spaced substantially U-shaped cross wires provided with prongs staggered relative to each other whereby adjacent prongs which are adjacent to one of the parallel wires vary in spaced relationship to the respective parallel wire, and whereby the machine of the invention is capable of concurrently in one cycle of operation shearing the wires fed in as cross wires, welding them to the longitudinal wires and forming a preceding pair of the cross wires into U-shaped prong structures.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine wherein first and second spaced pairs of Wire guides are disposed axially at right angles to each other, and wherein a pair of shearing dies are disposed to shear off a pair of wires projected through one pair of wire guides adjacent to welding dies in the path of the other wire guides, the shearing dies being variably spaced longitudinally of the wires projected through the respective guides, whereby one of the shearing dies is spaced farther than the other shearing die from the welding station, and wherein off- States Patent f Patented June 27, I967 ice set U-shaped forming dies are disposed laterally of the axes of the wire guides adjacent to which said shearing dies operate, thereby permitting welded wire assemblies to carry the sheared off wires laterally of their guide axes so that the shortest sheared off wire may pass the shearing die farthest from the welding station and move toward the offset U-shaped forming dies which are staggered in the same relationship as the shearing dies.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine having a very high production rate in accordance with its size and complexity.

Another object of the invention is to provide an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine employing a single set of relatively movable die plates for actuating a pair of shearing dies, a pair of welding dies, and a pair of U-shaped forming dies, all operable in unison to weld a pair of cross wires to a pair of longitudinal wires and to shear the cross wires, and subsequently form them in a successive cycle of operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine having a novel intermittent longitudinal wire cutoff die assembly selectively operable to be actuated by relatively movable die plates which concurrently actuate welding dies for welding two pairs of parallel wires together, shearing dies for shearing one pair of the parallel wires, and forming dies for forming the sheared pair of wires.

Further objects and advantages of the invention may be apparent from the following specification, appended claims and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine showing portions thereof broken away and in section to facilitate the illustration;

FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view taken from the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan section of welding die structure taken from the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken from the 'line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional View taken from the line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken from the line 6-6 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view taken from the line 7-7 of FIG. 4.

In accordance with the present invention, the pad rack fabricating machine is adapted to fabricate and produce evaporative cooler pad rack assemblies as disclosed in a patent application of Adam D. Goettl for Pad Rack Construction for Evaporative Coolers, signed May 15, 1964. These pad rack assemblies as disclosed in the above identified patent application are similar to those manufactured by the present machine, and therefore reference is made to the accompanying drawings of the machine, particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, wherein a pair of cross wires A and B are ultimately formed into substantially U-s'haped prongs designated C in FIG. 5 of the drawings. These prongs are offset at D and E, as shown in the drawings and as will be hereinafter described. A pair of longitudinal wires F and G are ultimately formed into the longitudinal wires of a pad rack assembly. The wires A and B are fed through a first pair of wire guides 14 and 12, while the wires F and G are fed through wire guides 14 and 16. It will be understood that various conventional wire feeding devices known in the art may be used for feeding the wires A and B in the direction of an arrow H, while similar wire feeding devices may be used for feeding the wires F and G in the direction of the arrow K in FIG. 2 of the drawings. These wire feeding devices intermittently stop the wires F and G with relation to the Welding and shearing cycles performed in connection with the wires, as will be hereinafter described in detail. Thus, the wires A and B, as well as the wires F and G, are intermittently fed and stopped for welding, shearing and forming, as will be hereinafter described.

The machine of the invention comprises an upper die plate 18 movably coupled to a lower, generally stationary die plate 20. The die plate 20' may be supported on any suitable stationary table or frame, while the die plate 18 is reciprocally mounted by means of slide bearings 22 on upstanding posts 24 secured and supported at their lower ends on the plate 20. An actuator member 26 cou pled to the upper die plate 18 may be the plunger of a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, or other actuating member adapted to move the die plate 18 downwardly toward the die plate 20 and upwardly as desired during the cycling of the die operations, as will be hereinafter described.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, welding electrodes 28, 29 and 30 are supported on the lower die plate 20, while welding dies 32 and 34 are vertically movably carried by a plate 36 coupled to the plunger 38 of a fluid actuated cushion cylinder 40 mounted on the upper die plate 18. A suitable guide pin 42 prevents rotation of the plate 36 about the axis of the plunger 38 when the die plate 36 is moved downwardly and upwardly relative to the die plates 18 and 20.

The dies 28, 29 and 30 are provided with grooves 44 and 46 disposed to hold and guide the wires F and G in alignment with the wire guides 14 and 16, as hereinbefore described. Grooves 48 and 50 in the dies 32 and 34 are disposed at right angles to the grooves 44 and 46. Grooves also give required surface contact to afford required electrical current capacity to weld at junction of wires. (Surface contact at wire junction is smaller and gives required resistance to build weld heat.) These grooves are disposed in the dies 32 and 34 in alignment with guide blocks 52 and 54 which are provided with notches 56 and 58 aligned with the grooves 48 and 50. Thus, the grooves 48 and 50 and the guide notches 56 and 58 are disposed to hold down wires A and B as they are projected through the guides and 12. The guides 10 and 12 thus align the wires A and B at a level above the wires G and F and project them thereacross so that the welding dies 32 and 34 may be pressed downwardly to ensure fixed contact of the wires at their right angle intersections so that they may be fushion welded to each other.

Shearing dies '60 and 62 are disposed in alignment with the wire guides 19 and 12.-These dies 66 and 62 have lower complemental portions 64 and 66, respectively, supported on the die plate 20. These dies are provided with shearing orifices 68 and 70 through which the wires B and A, respectively, are caused to pass as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings. The plates 64 and 66 are disposed at an angle less than 90 degrees to the wires A and B and the wires F and G to provide angular cut oftof the cross wires A and B and to provide pointed ends for the cross wire sections D and E, as will be hereinafter described. Carried by the upper plate 18 are complemental shearing die pins 72 and 74 having shearing faces adapted to pass in shearing relation with the faces of the die members 64 and 66 to shear off the wires A and B. It will be seen that the shearing die 60 is closer to the axis of the wire F than is the shearing die 62, so that when the cross wires D and E are welded to the longitudinal wires F and G that the end of the respe'chtive wire D as cut off by the shearing die 60 readily clears the die 62 when the assembly is moved in the direction of the arrow K so that the two previously welded wires are disposed at D and E over forming die blocks, as will be hereinafter described in detail. The offset relationship of the dies relative to the axes of the wires F and G passing through the wire guides 14 and 16 permits two wires A and B at their sheared off sections D and E to be welded to the wires F and G concurrently and to be moved both to clear the dies 60 and 62. This is due to the fact that d the end of the wire A sheared off at the die 60 will not interfere with the die 62 when moved in the direction of the arrow K.

Beyond the welding station and welding dies, hereinbefore described, the lower plate 20 supports a pair of dies blocks 78 and 80. The die block being disposed to ultimately form the cross wire A welded to the wires F and G into a U-shaped prong structure, while the die block 86 is utilized to form the section E cut from the wire B into a U-shaped prong structure. It will be seen that the die 80 is disposed laterally of the die 78 a distance equal to the laterally offset relationship of the dies 69 and 62. Thus, a forming face 82 of the die '78 is closer to the axes of the wire guides 14 and 16 than is the face 84 of the die 80. Thus the faces 82 and 84 correspond proportionally and respectively with the dies 69 and 62 in their spacing from the axes of the wire guides 14 and 16.

The die block 80 is provided with a slot 86 through which a prong portion 88 of the wire D may pass after being formed downwardly into a position also indicated in FIG. 5 of the drawings. It will be seen that a prong portion, as indicated at 90 in FIGS. 2 and 5, is formed downwardly about the face 84 of the die block 80 and that the die blocks 78 and 8t are provided with offset forming faces 92 and 94, respectively, which are opposed to the respective faces 82 and 84. Thus each section D of the wire cut from the cross wire A will be formed into a U-shaped prong member which is oifset laterally of the axes of the wire guides 14 and 16 relative to a comparable prong member cut off from the wire B and formed into the section E, as hereinbefore described.

Carried above the die blocks '78 and 80 are complemental forming dies 96 and 98, respectively. These dies 6 and 93 are similar, the die 98 having a pair of fingers 100 and 102 which are adapted to move downwardly in spaced relation with the faces 94 and 84, respectively, all as shown best in FIG. 5. These fingers 100 and 102 are spaced slightly from the respective faces of the die block 80 to correspond with the thicknesses of the Wire prong portions being formed downwardly therearound. The die 96, which is complemental to the die 78, is provided with a pair of fingers 104 and 106 adapted to form wire prong portions of the wire sections D and E over corresponding faces 92 and 82, respectively, of the die 78.

It will be seen that the forming dies 78 and 80 are provided with continuing and aligned grooves 108 and 110 in their upper faces which hold the longitudinal wires F and G to which the cross wires D and E are welded during the prong forming operations by the forming dies 78 and 80 and the complemental dies 96 and 98, respectively, which cooperate therewith, as hereinbefore described.

Adjacent to the forming dies 80 and 98 is a selective longitudinal wire shearing assembly 112. This assembly may alternately be operated to cut off the longitudinal wires F and G and may be rendered inoperative, as will be hereinafter described, during several cycles of operation of the dies, hereinbefore described, to permit several U-shaped prongs to be sheared and welded to the longitudinal wires G and F and to be formed into U-shaped structures so that six to ten or more of the U-shaped wires may be formed on the longitudinal wires G and F before the shearing die assembly 112 is actuated to cut off the longitudinal wires G and F between adjacent U- shaped prong structures formed of the cross wires A and B, as indicated at D and E and in FIG. 5 of the drawings.

The selective shearing assembly 112 is provided with an anvil 114 supported on the plate 20 and having grooves 116 and 118 disposed to hold the wires F and G. A base plate 120 of the assembly, which is supported on the lower plate 20, carries upstanding guide pins 122 and 124 surrounded by springs 126 and 128. A cross bar is slidable upwardly and downwardly on the guide pins 124 and the springs 128 tend to maintain the bar 130 upwardly. This bar carries a pair of shearing dies 132 and 134 aligned with the grooves 116 and 118 and an edge of the anvil 114 whereby the wires G and F may be sheared off at the edge of the anvil 114.

Disposed above the bar 130 is a sliding member 136 in which plungers 138 and 140 are vertically slidably mounted. These plungers 138 and 140 are disposed to be slidably moved into and out of interference with bars 142 and 144 on the lower side of the upper plate 18. When the plungers 138 and 140 are moved out of interference with the bars 142 and 144, downward movement of the plate 18 does not cause the plungers 138 and 140 to move the bar 130 downwardly a sufficient distance to cause the dies 132 and 134 to shear the longitudinal wires G and F. However, the sliding member 136 is mounted on a rod 146 which is slidably movable in bore portions in the upper ends of the guide pins 122 and 124. Thus, lateral movement of the rod 146 by the fluid operated cylinder 150 may intermittently cause the plungers 138 and 140 to be aligned with the bars 142 and 144 and when this happens downward movement of the die plate 18 will cause the plungers 138 and 140 to move downwardly through the sliding member 136 and to force the bar 130 together with the shearing dies 132 and 134 to move downwardly and shear off the longitudinal wires G and F at the edge of the anvil 114, as hereinbefore described.

In operation, the wires A and B are intermittently moved longitudinally of their axes through the guides and 12 by any suitable wire moving means well known to those skilled in the art, but which is no part of my present invention. Additionally, the wires G and F may also be moved in a similar manner a sufficient distance to carry sheared off sections of the wires A and B over the welding dies into a position, as indicated by broken lines in FIG. 2 of the drawings, over the forming dies 78 and 80. The laterally offset relation of the shearing dies 60 and 62 relative to each other and the axes of the wires F and G, and the offset relationship of the faces 82 and 84 of the dies 78 and 80 correspond to permit two cross wires to be welded to two longitudinal wires concurrently and subsequently to be moved relative to the shearing dies without interfering with the dies. That is, the end of the wire D, when moved in the direction of the arrow K, does not contact the die assembly 62, and the slot 86 permits the formed portion of the U-shaped structure at 88 to pass through the die block 80, all as hereinbefore described.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications of the present invention may be resorted to in a manner limited only by a just interpretation of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first pair of guides to shear off wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing die of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing die; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; 21 pair of U-shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U-shaped forming dies being offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut off by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires cut olf by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with Wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies.

2. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first pair of guides to shear off wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing die of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing die; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; a pair of U-shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U-shaped forming dies being offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut off by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires cut off by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; said shearing dies having shearing edges disposed at an angle of less than degrees with respect to the axes of both said first and second wire guides.

3. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first pair of guides to shear off wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing die of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing die; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; a pair of U-shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U-shaped forming dies being offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut off by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires cut ofi by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; said shearing dies, said welding dies and said forming dies having upper and lower complemental parts; an upper die plate supporting said upper complemental parts; a lower die plate supporting said lower complemental parts; rectilinear guide means movably connecting said plates for rectilinear aligned movement relative to each other; and means for causing said relative movement.

4. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first pair of guides to shear off wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing die of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing die; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; .a pair of U-shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U-shaped forming dies being offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut off by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires cut off by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; said 7 shearing dies, said welding dies and said forming dies having upper and lower complemental parts; an upper die plate supporting said upper complemental parts; a lower die plate supporting said lower complemental parts; rectilinear guide means movably connecting said plates for rectilinear aligned movement relative to each other; and means for causing said relative movement; actuating means on said upper die plate; said actuating means disposed to move said upper complemental parts of said welding dies relative to said upper plate and toward and away from said lower plate to effect wire welding operations when said upper and lower plates are forced together to close said shearing dies and said forming dies.

5. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of; a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first pair of guides to shear oif wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing die of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing die; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; 21 pair of U-shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U- shaped forming dies being offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut off by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires cut off by said shearing dies are moved in Welded connection with wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; and shearing dies, said welding dies and said forming dies having upper and lower complemental parts; an upper die plate supporting said upper complemental parts; a lower die plate supporting said lower complemental parts; rectilinear guide means movably connecting said plates for rectilinear aligned movement relative to each other; and means for causing said relative movement; actuating means on said upper die plate; said actuating means disposed to move said upper complemental parts of said welding dies relative to said upper plate and toward and away from said lower plate to effect wire welding operations when said upper and lower plates are forced together to close said shearing dies and said forming dies; a wire cut off die assembly for cutting off wires projected through said second pair of guides, said assembly being disposed in spaced relation to said forming dies; a bar or" said assembly vertically movably mounted on said lower plate; a pair of complemental shearing dies carried by said bar and said lower plate and disposed to shear wires projected through both of said second Wire guides; and selector means movably mounted between said upper plate and said bar; engaging means on said upper plate disposed to engage said selector means when in one position and disposed to miss said selector means when in another position whereby said selector means may be disposed to actuate said wire out oif assembly only during selected cycle movements of said plates relative to each other.

6. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first pair of guides to shear ofl? wires held in said first pair of guides; and first shearing die of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing die; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; a pair of U-shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U-shaped forming dies being ofiset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut off by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires cut oif by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with Wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; said shearing dies, said welding dies and said forming dies having upper and lower complemental parts; an upper die plate supporting said upper complemental parts; a lower die plate supporting said lower complemental parts; rectilinear guide means movably connecting said plates for rectilinear aligned movement relative to each other; and means for causing said relative movement; actuating means on said upper die plate; said actuating means disposed to move said upper complemental parts of said welding dies relative to said upper plate and toward and away from said lower plate to effect wire welding operations when said upper and lower plates are forced together to close said shearing dies and said forming dies; a wire cut off die assembly for cutting ofi' wires projected through said second pair of guides, said assembly being disposed in spaced relation to said forming dies; a bar of said assembly vertically movably mounted on said lower plate; a pair of complemental shearing dies carried by said bar and said lower plate and disposed to shear wires projected through both of said second wire guides; and selector means movably mounted between said upper plate and said bar; engaging means on said upper platedisposed to engage said selector means when in one position and disposed to miss said selector means when in another position whereby said selector means may be disposed to actuate said wire cut off assembly only during selected cycle movements of said plates relative to each other; a power operated means for moving said selector means.

7. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first pair of guides to shear off wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing dies of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing dies; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; a pair of U- shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U-shaped forming dies being offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut oif by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires cut off by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; said shearing dies, said welding dies and said forming dies having upper and lower complemental parts; an upper die plate supporting said upper complemental parts; a lower die plate supporting said lower complemental parts; rectilinear guide means movably connecting said plates for rectilinear aligned movement relative to each other; and means for causing said relative movement; actuating means on said upper die plate; said actuating means disposed to move said upper complemental parts of said welding dies relative to said upper plate and toward and away from said lower plates to effect wire welding operations when said upper and lower plates are forced to gether to close said shearing dies and said forming dies; a wire cut off die assembly for cutting oif wire projected through said second pair of guides, said assembly being disposed in spaced relation to said forming dies; a bar of said assembly vertically movably mounted on said lower plate; a pair of complemental shearing dies carried by said bar and said lower plate and disposed to shear wires projected through both of said second wire guides; and selector means movably mounted between said upper plate and said bar; engaging means on said upper plate disposed to engage said selector means when in one position and disposed to miss said selector means when in another position whereby said selector means may be disposed to actuate said wire cut off assembly only during selected cycle movements of said plates relative to each other; said selector means having vertically movable plungers disposed to be engaged between said engaging means and said bar.

8. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent tosaid first pair of guides to shear off wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing dies of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing dies; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wi es at areas of intersection of said Wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; a pair of U-shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U-shaped forming dies being offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut oil by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires cut off by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; said shearing dies, said welding dies and said forming dies having upper an lower complemental parts; an upper die plate supporting said upper complemental parts; a lower die plate supporting said lower complemental parts; rectilinear guide means movably connecting said plates for rectilinear aligned movement relative to each other; and means for causing said relative movement; actuating means on said upper die plate; said actuating means disposed to move said upper complemental parts of said welding dies relative to said upper plate and toward and away from said lower plate to eifect wire welding operations when said upper and lower plates are forced to gether to close said shearing dies and said forming dies; a wire cut off die assembly for cutting off wires projected through said second pair of guides, said assembly being disposed in spaced relation to said forming dies; a bar of said assembly vertically movably mounted on said lower plate; a pair of complemental shearing dies carried by said bar and said lower plate and disposed to shear wires projected through both of said second wire guides; and selector means movably mounted between said upper plate and said bar; engaging means on said upper plate disposed to engage said selector means when in one position and disposed to miss said selector means when in another position whereby said selector means may be disposed to actuate said wire cut ofi assembly only during selected cycle movements of said plates relative to each other; said selector means having vertically movable plungers disposed to be engaged between said engaging means and said bar; a slide member in which said plungers are movably mounted.

9. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel Wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first pair of guides to shear off wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing dies of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing dies; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; a pair of U-shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U-shaped forming dies being offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut off by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires cut off by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; said shearing dies, said welding dies and said forming dies having upper an lower complemental parts; an upper die plate supporting said upper complemental parts; a lower die plate supporting said lower complemental parts; rectilinear guide means movably connecting said plates for rectilinear aligned movement relative to each other; and means for causing said relative movement; actuating means on said upper die plate; said actuating means disposed to move said upper complemental parts of said welding dies relative to said upper plate and toward and away from said lower plate to effect wire welding operations when said upper and lower plates are forced together to close said shearing dies and said forming dies; a wire cut off die assembly for cutting off wires projected through said second pair of guides, said assembly being disposed in spaced relation to said forming dies; a bar of said assembly vertically movably mounted on said lower plate; a pair of complemental shearing dies carried by said bar and said lower plate and disposed to shear wires projected through both of said second wire guides; and selector means movably mounted between said upper plate and said bar; engaging means on said upper plate disposed to engage said selector means when in one position and disposed to miss said selector means when in another position whereby said selector means may be disposed to actuate said wire cut off assembly only during selected cycle movements of said plates relative to each other; said selector means having vertically movable plungers disposed to be engaged between said engaging means and said bar; a slide member in which said plungers are movably mounted; and a fluid operated cylinder disposed to actuate said slide member and move it horizontally.

10. In an evaporative cooler wire pad rack fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at substantially right angles to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first of guides to shear off wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing dies of said pair of shearing dies being disposed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing dies; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides; a pair of U-shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of wire guides; one of said U- shaped forming dies being offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut off by said second shearing die clears said first shearing die when wires are cut off by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with wires moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; said shearing dies, said welding dies and said forming dies having upper and lower complemental parts; an upper die plate supporting said upper complemental parts; a lower die plate supporting said lower complemental parts; rectilinear guide means movably connecting said plates for rectilinear aligned movement relative to each other; and means for causing said relative movement; actuating means on said upper die plate; said actuating means disposed to move said upper complemental parts of said welding dies relative to said upper plate and toward and away from said lower plate to effect wire welding operations when said upper and lower plates are forced together to close said shearing dies and said forming dies; a wire cut off die assembly for cutting off wires projected through said second pair of guides, said assembly being disposed in spaced relation to said forming dies; a bar of said assembly vertically movably mounted on said lower plate; a pair of complemental shearing dies carried by said bar and said lower plate and disposed to shear wires projected through both of said second wire guides; and selector means movably mounted between said upper plate and said bar; enga ing means on said upper plate disposed to engage said selector means when in one position and disposed to miss said selector means when in another position whereby said selector means may be disposed to actuate said wire cut off assembly only during selected cycle movements of said plates relative to each other; said selector means having vertically movable plungers disposed to be engaged between said engaging means and said bar; a slide member in which said plungers are movably mounted; and a fluid operated cylinder disposed to actuate said slide member and move it horizontally; resilient means tending to hold said bar upwardly.

11. In a Wire fabricating machine the combination of: a first pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides; a second pair of spaced substantially parallel wire guides disposed at an angle to said first pair; first and second shearing dies disposed adjacent to said first pair of guides to shear oif wires held in said first pair of guides; said first shearing dies of said pair of shearing dies being dis- 35 posed a greater distance from said second pair of guides than said second shearing die; welding dies disposed to fusion weld wires at areas of intersection of said wires held in said first and second pairs of guides;'a pair of U- shaped forming dies spaced from said welding dies longitudinally along the axes of said second pair of Wire guides; one of said U-shaped forming dies having a wire forming surface offset laterally relative to said last mentioned axes an amount equal to said greater distance; said first shearing die being closest to said forming dies whereby the wire cut oif by said second shearing die clears said first shearing dies when wires cut off by said shearing dies are moved in welded connection with wires move-d longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides toward said forming dies; a slotted portion in said one forming die; said slotted portion being located between said forming surface and the axes of said second pair of wire guides; a wire forming surface of the other one of said pair of forming dies; said last mentioned forming surface being aligned with said slotted portion on an axis substantially parallel to the axis of said second pair of wire guides, whereby wire prongs formed over said last mentioned surface may subsequently pass through said slotted portion when a welded Wire assembly is moved longitudinally along the axes of said second wire guides from said one forming die toward said other forming die.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,164,043 6/1939 Rossler 140112 2,187,129 1/1940 Kramer 140--112 2,962,059 11/1960 Rosler 140-112 3,234,973 2/1966 Adams 140112 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

E. M. COMES, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN AN EVAPORATIVE COOLER WIRE PAD RACK FABRICATING MACHINE THE COMBINATION OF: A FIRST PAIR OF SPACED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WIRE GUIDES; A SECOND PAIR OF SPACED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WIRE GUIDES DISPOSED AT SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID FIRST PAIR; FIRST AND SECOND SHEARING DIES DISPOSED ADJACENT TO SAID FIRST PAIR OF GUIDES TO SHEAR OFF WIRES HELD IN SAID FIRST PAIR OF GUIDES; SAID FIRST SHEARING DIE OF SAID PAIR OF SHEARING DIES BEING DISPOSED A GREATER DISTANCE FROM SAID SECOND PAIR OF GUIDES THAN SAID SECOND SHEARING DIE; WELDING DIES DISPOSED TO FUSION WELD WIRES AT AREAS OF INTERSECTION OF SAID WIRES HELD IN SAID FIRST AND SECOND PAIRS OF GUIDES; A PAIR OF U-SHAPED FORMING DIES SPACED FROM SAID WELDING DIES LONGITUDINALLY ALONG THE AXES OF SAID SECOND PAIR OF WIRE GUIDES; ONE OF SAID U-SHAPED FORMING DIES BEING OFFSET LATERALLY RELATIVE TO SAID LAST MENTIONED AXES AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO SAID GREATER DISTANCE; SAID FIRST SHEARING DIE BEING CLOSEST TO SAID FORMING DIES WHEREBY THE WIRE CUT OFF BY SAID SECOND SHEARING DIE CLEARS SAID FIRST SHEARING DIE WHEN WIRES CUT OFF BY SAID SHEARING DIES ARE MOVED IN WELDED CONNECTION WITH WIRES MOVED LONGITUDINALLY ALONG THE AXES OF SAID SECOND WIRE GUIDES TOWARD SAID FORMING DIES. 